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Battle for Shady Pines part 2

The battle for Shady Pines Part 2

Description and disclaimer- Characters that follow are not based on individuals known to be real people. However, the characters actions, beliefs and interactions with others are based on real life incidents, comments, etc. from real people. While the main character may seem like a clown to some, he is a conglomeration of several types and styles of real life "preppers." I have endured to make this character real in the sense that their are people out there like him, who think and act like him. Keep in mind I've interacted with thousands upon thousands of like minded people over three decades, so this character type is NOT based in fiction. This is not meant solely as a sattire but also as a look at many issues related to survivalism as viewed by many people calling themselves survivalists or "preppers." While it's tempting to say "no one would think that" or "no one would do things that way", I re-iterate to you that all of this is based on real ideas, thoughts, interactions. I am NOT striving to make the main character look like an idiot to those that are experienced, I AM striving to make the main character look like someone who "doesn't know what he doesn't know" which unfortunately covers a wide swatch of preparedness minded people out there.

Too often these types of stories are critized for not being "realistic" (based on the reader's perspective of course). Look at all the flak Jim Rawles original story "Patriots" has gotten online. Scores of people have written "that's impossible, no one can accomplish all that" (referring to the retreat in the story), meanwhile when I read it I'm thinking "they are lacking a lot." Again, the reader's perspective and where the individual reader is in his preparedness journey having a lot to do with how they react to a story. I believe you will find this story will show a more common example of a like minded person's preps and thoughts.

Finally, my intent is not to tee you off with any of this story, but to give a glimpse inside the mind of a typical like minded person. I believe we can learn from all examples, even at times bad ones. Further, it's not to try to show any "superiority" or related BS as no doubt someone will likely attest once they read something they didn't want to hear or don't agree with- it's the internet after all folks, when people can't debate the idea or dislike something they hear they often revert to name calling. How are people like this going to survive if they cannot even defend their ideas I wonder? And yes, I realize all of Bob's mistakes, it pains me to write some of them Again, the idea is to portray someone who "don't know what they don't know."
Thanks for reading and I'll add more as I have time, it will be an ongoing story, even though new additions will likely come slowly (I do have a couple of regular jobs as well )- R

continued part 2

Reading online, he read that you should have a bug out bag, whether or not you ever intended to bug out. Bob wasn't stupid, he knew Barbara would never allow them to leave the house here, no matter what was happening.

Even though it was clear that Barbara would never allow a move out of the suburbs, whether ahead of time or at the last minute, Bob set about to build a good bug out bag for each of the family members. He spent about two years reading posts about what to pack, how to carry it, and watching youtube videos about bug out bags. In an attempt to keep a "low profile" Bob went with standard Jansport school backpacks from Walmart. They were also considerably cheaper than military packs or some of these high dollar packs people talked about online.

"I want us to look like a normal family, not a fireteam moving to contact" Bob thought.

Bob was able to cram 48 lbs. of supplies in to his backpack. The straps creaked a bit when he picked it up off the floor but they held. Bob carried it over to the corner and set it aside where it sat thereafter. By contrast the packs he built for his family were lighter. Barbara's weighed in at 37 lbs. and the kids at 25 and 23 lbs. each. Bob put some of the lighter MRE's he had in the kids and Barbara's packs, but put the last of them plus some canned goods in his pack. He heard spam and Vienna sausages lasted forever so he went with them. A full roll of toilet paper went in each of the packs as well. This could be used for it's intended purposes as well are firestarting and marking trails Bob surmised. Both the kids and Barbara never put on their packs. Bob put his pack on just to move it to the other corner of the closet of doom.

During the 10 years Bob called himself a "prepper" he had made several contacts with other "preppers" via survival forums. Mostly he just read survival fiction stories, printed lists of supplies to get and posted questions like "which is better, a Ruger 10/22 or a MP15 in .22?" Which was his current research project, figuring out which .22lr rifle he needed. Bob's main focus was always what next to purchase. Barbara noticed his fixation with this and in an attempt to try to get him to spend less money, she mentioned that to him. "Your little hobby is getting expensive, and nothing has happened yet to validate the need for all this crap."

Bob assured her that despite what she heard on the main stream news, the "stuff" was very close to hitting the fan. He had read several posts on internet sites in 2009 and 2010 that told him to "get out of dollar demoninated currency" and several experts that told him that the stock market which was then around 10,000 was going to crash "in the next few months" and that he should pull ALL his retirement savings out. Bob didn't actually follow a lot of the survival advice he read online, but he did follow this piece of advice. He and Barbara had a rip roaring "discussion" about this with Barbara finally saying "fine, you can eat Alpo when we get old, I'm not going to, nor will I support us with MY retirement savings!" Barbara had a high powered job selling specialty insurance to corporations and she made considerably more money than Bob did as an IT guy. In Barbara's own words she was "dynamite" in selling and did really well.

Barbara did not however, allow Bob to take his retirement money and put it into "useless survival junk." She told him "we are going to put this money into CDs at the local bank. One day you will come to your senses with this end of the world crap and you'll thank me that the money is still there." Bob argued that when the economy crashed in a few months like all the guys that sold precious metals predicted, that the banks would close and the money would be gone. That was in 2010 and the stock market was around 10,000 points. Seven years later the stock market was just over double that and the economy had not crashed. Bob's money was somewhat "safe" in the CDs, averaging about .75% a year for that time period. Every few months when Bob read an article from a precious metals dealer about how silver was going to go up to $200. an ounce in a few months and told Barbara about it, Barbara would say "well if you had stayed in the market you would have almost double the money you had in there in 2010." Bob usually stayed quiet after that.

While Bob spent a lot of time reading alternate news sites online and charting the "next financial crash that will happen in a few months" he spent little time actually preparing for said events. To not know Bob and talk to him- or rather have Bob talk AT you- regarding world affairs, the economy and politics, you would think Bob was the ultimate survivor. Surely someone who felt this strongly about things was well prepared. But Bob did get well educated on all the conspiracy theories, some basic macroeconomics, etc.

Bob's plan for water was lacking. They lived in a subdivision about 5 miles South of the outskirts of Jacksonville, FL. It was Florida so water was everywhere. Storing much of it was a hassle, and Barbara would not allow unsightly barrels in the garage. Bob grabbed a couple of 24 packs of the 8 ounce water bottles from Walmart and tucked them away on the top shelf of a shelving unit in the closet of doom.

He knew this water supply wouldn't last forever, but he had read online that you could take any empty water bottle and scoop up dirty water and just leave it in the sun for 20 minutes and it would be safe to drink. He would have plenty of empty water bottles after they drank the two cases. And their was a drainage pond 1/4 mile down the road. He also had purchased Pool Shock because it was cheap and he heard it would help with water. Bob stored that on the shelf below the water so that all his water related preps could be found in one spot. Rounding out his water preparations, he printed out instructions for the Pool Shock and placed them in one of the binders.

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"Don't be too proud of this technological terror you've constructed..."